On Ramp: Access Your Community (page 2)

No Beta Equipment Here

You're probably thinking that the equipment available to members must be outdated and old-fashioned. Probably just some old cameras and portable VHS decks--hand-me-downs from the local community college. Just enough stuff to make you feel like you're producing a real video, right?

Not true. Many access centers have a healthy inventory of prosumer equipment. It might not be Beta-SP, but it's probably not Beta I, either. In many centers, you will find S-VHS or Hi8 camcorders or docking recorders for field production. And there will be field monitors and lights and lavalier mikes, too.

In the studio (yes, some centers have one) you will look up and most likely see a lighting grid. And--and are those three studio cameras I see? Wow! They even have tally lights! And a teleprompter! Does my $25 a year include the teleprompter? You're kidding! Is that the control room in there? A phone patch, too? No way!

Participation in public access may be inexpensive, but it is no small potatoes. According to the Alliance, access centers churn out more than 20,000 hours of original programming each week. And they give members the tools to do it. Whether it is field production, studio work, or A/B-roll editing, your local access center will provide you with equipment that is more than adequate to produce a very attractive s…