The Point Blank Music School in London gear up for the future with the VR-50HD and VR-50HD MK II.

The Point Blank Music School is no stranger to remote learning - with schools in London, LA, China, Ibiza and Mumbai, the opportunity to collaborate globally online with some of the best creative minds in the music industry has always been part of the attraction. When COVID 19 forced a move to virtual delivery of all teaching, the expert staff at Point Blank in London didn’t miss a beat in putting together the quality streaming setup, that included the Roland VR-50HD, required to make a smooth transition to virtual. One such expert is Stanley Li, who as well as being the Marketing and Content Manager at Point Blank Music School is globally renowned DJ and YouTube sensation - DJ Ravine.

The Roland VR-50HD Multi-Format AV Mixer has always been at the heart of the creation of compelling video content for tutorials, live streaming, advertising and more at the Point Blank Music School in London. For the courses on offer such as Music Production, DJing, Radio Broadcasting and Live Sound Engineering, video tutorials are key to the course structure and offer the best medium for students to watch, hear and learn their skills through an audio-visual demonstration. Furthermore, the videos created by Point Blank also play a huge part in advertising the course content.

When COVID 19 restrictions were put in place in 2020, the London school found – as did many others - that it wasn’t just the learning that had to be remote – it was everything. For example, before COVID, the Open Day for the London school would host 100 or more prospective students but, with restrictions in place, the school could welcome only a fraction of the number who would want to attend, so Virtual Open Days are now offered to an unlimited audience.

‘The school never used to film the open days because it was never a priority, people wanted to come and see, experience the school in person’, Li explains. ‘Now the open days can only have maybe a 3rd of the people, so they are live, filmed and online – just like a hybrid event.’

In terms of delivering the current courses, Point Blank now offer a blended approach, with students attending both on campus and virtual online classes in alternate weeks to allow for social distancing to be in place. In this blended learning setup, the Roland VR-50HD can be moved between classrooms and studios, wherever a livestreaming hub is needed to enable each lesson to be broadcast live on Zoom. The correct positioning of the cameras in each learning space is very important, not only to ensure the quality of the experience for all students but also, on a practical level, they need to see what the lecturer is doing.

A camera positioned above the lecturer or workstation and at least one camera on the live room, plus additional cameras in the room give the options needed. The selection of the output source on the 7- inch graphic colour touchscreen on the VR-50HD makes it easy to switch between cameras.

Point Blank use Zoom Q2N-4K cameras in the live room, explaining that the ‘sound (from the camera mic) is so good that they have an audio channel setup and are used as room mics’. As more students are allowed to be physically present, there is no need to bring in more cameras or mics, they can use the Zoom cameras as room mics and interact with the remote students who can be seen on a projector, helping to create a more natural classroom environment. All the audio and video from the cameras is fed through the VR-50HD, streaming live to the remote audience.

‘The main goal of blended learning is that there is no compromise on the quality of learning’, Li emphasizes. ‘The Roland VR-50HD in the main studio at Point Blank has played a major role in this transition and in delivering the great audio and video quality - and a great production’.

One of the benefits of the VR-50HD for Point Blank is that the design is intuitive and easy to use. As an all-in-one ‘HD studio’ with audio mixer, video switcher, multi-viewer touch screen and USB video/audio streaming, the VR-50HD could satisfy the need for video production, recording and streaming in a single unit. On a practical level, the VR-50HD is easy to move around and ‘plug in and play’ with no need for a separate computer to enable streaming.

‘As soon as it (the VR-50HD) was installed in the studio, the lecturers picked up how to use it immediately. When COVID prevented the whole team being present, the tutors were able to come in and start operating alone straight away.’

Totally satisfied with the VR-50HD, the Point Blank Music School in London have just taken delivery of the VR-50HD MK II. The ‘MK II’ is the next evolution of the VR-50HD that is loaded with new productivity features inspired directly from user feedback. These features include an Aux output for dedicated record, streaming, or confidence monitor feeds, updated user interface for fast, trouble-free operation, new high-quality audio preamps and converters for crystal-clear sound and automatic audio mixing, adaptive noise reduction and automatic video switching functions to support single operators. The VR-50HD MK II also supports the direct control of an increased number of PTZ cameras from JVC, Panasonic, Sony, PTZOptics, Avonic and VISCA compatible over LAN.

‘The new model has a lot more to take in- it’s great for Point Blank as a production team. It’s still easy to use at its core but now with more power and more control. The lecturers don’t need too much technical knowledge to use it.’

The technical expertise of the staff and students at Point Blank vary, but with the new course formats and delivery methods across the board, the VR-50HD MK II is likely to play an increasingly important role in video production and streaming for all. Automated functions, plus features such as the broadcast style buttons, large touchscreen and multi-view monitor design of the VR-50HD MK II means that it can accommodate the least technical operator with its intuitive workflow, but also the expansive professional creative options that the VR-50HD MK II has ‘under the hood’ are enough to keep the most technical creators happy.

‘We haven’t found the limit of what the VR-50HD MK II can do – we also haven’t found the limit on remote learning – but we are sure that the VR-50HD MK II is all we need for the future’.