Facilities
All you need to know
Studio and Edit Suites
For our Access Users
The Guts
In the Field
Free Classes AvailableCall us to schedule a class
651-430-2921
Valley Access Channels offers training on our video equipment that you can then checkout for free!!! Tape your child's play or sporting event at school. Do a family history video. Teach people a lost art. Show off your antiques. The idea's are endless.
Checkout a camera and videotape an event. After you have taped your program then use our edit suites where you can add professional looking graphics and effects. There are fancy looking titles and other graphics. Fun and funny special effects that add to your program. Add your voice, CD or Cassette music to your productions. It's easy and it's free!!!
Or use our production studio. Maybe you want to do a talk show in our studio. We can train you and your crew of at least 3 people to produce your own talk or variety show. Make programs with artists, chefs, community groups, non-profits, school and community events or become the next Steven Spielberg or David Letterman.
Want to learn what all those buttons do on your Camcorder? Bring it in along with your manual and we will show you what different features your camera has. Call us to arrange a special class.
Your imagination and time are all you need. You too can be producing programs for your friends today!
Valley Access Channels Offers Training on...
SVHS and MINI DV Camcorders
Non-Linear and Linear Editing
Studio Production
Studio and Location Lighting
Photoshop 7.0
Using Clipart and Backgrounds
Scriptwriting and Storyboards
Your Own Camera
Valley Access Channels is unique in that we run programming Back to Back in two hour blocks on our Public Channel 14 and Educational Channel 15. We round our shows to the nearest half hour with short id's and promos of all our shows to ensure our channals are playing programming continually and not just graphic pages!
We also promote our shows and WEB Sites and help producers with promotion.
I have visited dozens of Access Centers around the country and have yet to find one that runs the amount of programming that Valley Access Channels does.
We take pride in the fact that we activley encourage and look for new programming locally and from all around the world, making our channels the most diverse and entertaining stations of all public access channels anywhere!
Contact us by phone to sign up, 651-430-2921.
E-Mail requests MUST provide a phone number.
Special Classes are offered on request.
Classes may require more than one session.
Valley Access Channels is a public access cable television facility in the St. Croix Valley.
The cities and towns in our viewing area include...
Afton, Bayport, Baytown Township, Lakeland,
Lake St. Croix Beach, Lakeland Shores
Oak Park Heights, Stillwater,
Stillwater Township, St. Mary's Point and
West Lakeland Township.
There are about 10,000 potential viewers in our frachise area.
We Have 4 channels for local programming:
Public, Channel 14, Educational, Channel 15,
Government, Channel 16
and Inspirational, Channel 18
Our Mission
In the Spring of 1982 plans were made to bring cable
television to our area. As part of the agreement for
providing cable service, the cable company was required
to provide facilities, equipment and training for the public
to make their own cable TV shows.
The feeling was that there were no mass media outlets
available for the public to produce alternative messages
and programs not usually available on commercial
television without large sums of money. In addition,
it was thought that educational and government
institutions would cablecast their meetings thus allowing
more participation and input from the public.
Valley Access Channels provides this and so much more.
Valley Access Channels strives to provide quality training and equipment.
In addition, we provide the widest range of shows from all over the country.
Valley Access Channels prides itself in the fact that we provide such a wide
range of programming from all around the world in addition to our locally produced
productions making our channels the most diverse of any Public Access channels anywhere !
Our Staff is always ready to assist you in your production. We want to help you make your productions as professional as possible. Our staff will assist you on the completion of your production
with emphasis on your abilities and program vision.
History
The 1982, the first Access Center was located in the Historic Courthouse in Stillwater. In the mid 1980's it was moved to the location on South Greeley Street. It was known by many names
over those years as the cable company changed hands.
In September of 1999 the Cable Commission negotiated a new franchise with the Cable Company and in the process also took control of the Access Center and it's employees.
The name "Valley Access Channels" was given to the Commission by the Access Corporation that was formed to monitor the Cable Company and the facilities for compliance of the franchise. They were unfunded as part of the new franchise. The Cable Commission hired staff and in the Spring of 2000 The facility was moved to our new facilities in River Heights Plaza.
Funding for the Staff and Facilities is provided by franchise fees from our cities and a P.E.G. fee on cable subscribers.
This funding provides staff, a 3 camera studio, editing suites, camcorders and all the extra equipment you may need to produce your programs. Best of all it is completely FREE...
Valley Access Channels
are YOUR channels to use and watch.
VACTV Staff also provides local community programming. We produce plays,
concerts, Lumberjack Days events, local meetings and so much more...
In the field we use a portable setup.
We like this system because it is easy to use and gives us mobility.
The Portable Setup
Panasonic MX 50 mixer
3 JVC HD Cameras
Multi Channel Audio Board
Portacom Communications
LCD Color Preview Monitors
Mini DV and SVHS Recording (Y/C)
PA and Talent Communication
JVC
Used for field productions and staff shoots
Public Access Television
is a special resource for all to use and enjoy!
Get involved today.
Master Control
Leightronics Pro-16 and Mini T-Pro
6 SVHS Decks for Public Access Channel 14
4 SVHS Decks each for Educational Access Channel 15
and Inspirational Channel 18
5 SVHS Decks for Government Channel 16
4 Scientific Atlantic Modulators
Media Play Character Generator for Channels 14 & 18
Tex Scan Character Graphics for Channel 16
Amiga 1200 Charater Graphics for Channel 15
Valley Access Channels is unique in that we run programming Back to Back in two hour blocks. We round our shows to the nearest half hour with short id's and promos of all our shows to ensure our channels are playing programming continually and not just graphic pages!
I have visited dozens of Access Centers around the country and have yet to find one that runs the amount of programming that Valley Access Channels does.
We take pride in the fact that we activley encourage and look for new programming from all around the world, making our channels the most diverse and entertaining stations of all public access channels anywhere!
Our Dub System
Y/C Signal
7 SVHS Recorders
PAL Player/Recorder
Panasonic DVD Recorder
Panasonic DVD player
JVC Mini DV/SVHS Combo Deck
Comprehensive D/A
Passive Signal Router
Valley Access Channels
Dub Service is available to all
$10.00 per VHS Each
$10.00 per SVHS Each
$12.00 per DV Each
$12.00 per DVD Each
Special Pricing for 10 or more of
any format.
Elite DVD Dubbing System
6 DVD-R at a time at 4x speed
Uses Panasonic DVD Burners
Our Public Checkout Camera's
2 Panasonic DVC15
Anton/Bauer Batteries
XLR Audio Connections
Digital Transfer
Photo Shots
2 Panasonic Palmcorder DV953
Mini DV Camcorders
Great for users needing firewire for home transfers
3 Chip 1/4 ccd
IEEE Transfer
525 Lines of Resolution
SVHS/Composite In/Out
3 MB Photoshot Camera
Memory Card
Panasonic DVC80
Mini DV Camcorder
3 Chip 1/3 CCD
IEEE Transfer
XLR Audio
525 Lines of Resolution
3.5" LCD
We also have two portable systems available to the public.
More info to come...
Sampson Wireless Mics
Audio Technica Universal Wireless Adapters
Sennheiser Camcorder Shotguns
Sennheiser K-9 Shotguns with 2 Modules
Headset Mics
Lavalier Mics
Handheld Mics
Audio Technica Boundary Mics
Our Facilities
Edit Suite "A"
Apple G5 Final Cut Pro
Non Linear System
We are excited about presenting to you our new powerful state of the art Non Linear Editing System. Beginning with our super computer, we offer a screaming fast Apple G5 2.5 Dual GHZ computer with 4 GB RAM and 500 GB of internal hard drive space.
The computer has a dvd superdrive that can burn dvd's and cd's. Joining the computer is a colossal storage house in the Huge Systems 1.6 TB RAID unit. Breaking it down, we can store over one hundred hours of uncompressed video.
To view your computer work, we offer two 19” Samsung CRT monitors and a 17” professional NTSC monitor Sound you say, how about our two industrial Anchor speakers and a professional 12 input Behringer audio mixer. Also, voice-over capability is provided with a Shure desk mount microphone. Next we offer a Final Cut Pro (FCP) keyboard specifically designed for FCP that will allow you to conveniently locate your keyboard shutcuts, in a hurry. Joining the keyboard, shuttle control has been made easier with our Shuttle Pro controller customized to speed up the process of editing and meet the demands of our users. Now what is a computer without a mouse. Well how about a Microsoft wireless mouse. No more cords. Just pick up the mouse and freely move it around.
You can dazzle your friends with images, pictures, photos etc. by bringing them in and having them scanned on our new Hewlett Packard scanner that scans pictures, photos, negatives, slides etc.
We provide the possibility of MINI and LARGE DV, DV CAM, and DVC Pro for playback and record with our JVC 3000 digital deck. Moreover, we offer play/record on our Panasonic Industrial SVHS deck.
Accompanying the computer, to make digital video capturing into the computer 4-12x faster, we offer two Firestore FS-4 hard disk recorders. If you have any other media other than those mentioned, no problem. We provide a digital Canopus ADVC-100 dv converter box that accepts firewire, s-video, and composite RCA video and audio.
Now to the applications that can turn the novice videographer into a professional. Beginning with the Ilife '04 series. These set of applications move you swiftly and easily through the nonlinear world. One doesn't have to know too much to create high quality looking videos. With a little training and a colorful imagination, one could create any show they like without getting too complex. The applications and their functions are listed below:
___________________
imovie-to edit video, iphoto-to arrange and store photos, idvd-to author and burn dvd's, itunes- to arrange and store music, garageband-a loop based music program that affords you the opportunity to create your own music for shows etc. Now once you have graduated from the basic applications and WANT TO DO MORE, we arrive at the Nucleus of the entire system. We can do what the professionals do at a fraction of the cost. We gleefully present Apple's Production Suite bundle. This bundle is a blend of fantastic applications. The beauty of these applications is that they work smoothly and simply with each other. We begin with Final Cut Pro HD 4.5. It's a state of the art nonlinear editing program. First, the program comes with LIVE TYPE, an animated Text editor, and SOUNDTRACK, a professional music loop based program to create your own music. Secondly, the application MOTION, a compositing special effects program, is added to spice up your videos beyond belief, for most. Thirdly, FCP offers COMPRESSOR, which allows anyone to compress their video to whatever format they desire such as mpeg1, 2, 4, etc. Fourthly, what would a system be without the ability to author your own dvd's. Now remember we can author dvd's using idvd, on a basic level. At the advanced level, Apple has created a very user friendly, easy to learn professional dvd authoring program. They call it DVD STUDIO PRO. We have the latest version, DVD STUDIO PRO 3. At your fingertips, with a little training, you too can create and author a professional looking dvd.
Finally, we offer DVD training tutorials in the Digital Media Training Series DVD's for both FINAL CUT PRO HD 4.5 and DVD STUDIO PRO 3. People will get the best initial training on the FCP system from the Valley Access Channels staff, but after that, people can train and learn at their own pace with this dvd training system.
Apple G5 Non Linear System
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Computer
Apple G5 2.5 GHZ
4Gb RAM
500GB Hard Drive Storage
Mac OS X operating system
Storage
Huge Systems 1.6 TB RAID
Video Monitors
2x Samsung CRT monitors
17” JVC NTSC broadcast monitor
Audio Mixer
12 input Behringer
Audio Monitors
2 Anchor speakers
Keyboard
Final Cut Pro keyboard
Mouse
Microsoft wireless mouse
Extras
Contour Pro shuttle controller
Decks
JVC BR-3000 digital deck
Panasonic svhs deck
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HDD
2 Firestore FS-4 Hard Disk Devices
Dv Converter
Canopus ADVC-100 dv converter
Scanner
HP scanner
Final Cut Pro
Production Suite
Final Cut Pro HD 4.5
Live Type
Soundtrack
Motion
DVD Studio Pro
Cinema Tools
Compressor
RT Extreme
Quicktime Pro
I life `04 series
Imovie
Itunes
Idvd
Iphoto
Garageband
Training/Tutorials
Digital Media
Training Series
on dvd
Final Cut Pro HD 4.5
DVD Studio Pro 3
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Compix Edit Suite "B"
Linear Editing
Y/C signal
Compix Character Graphics
Logo Animation
Mackie Audio Boards
Panasonic MX 50 Mixer
Mini DV and SVHS Editing
Scanner and Smart Card Compatable
Jaz Drive and DVD Compatable
Also for Editors
Elite 500 Stock Footage Library
NASA Zoom Ins to Earth
Animation Show Opens
60 Live Video Animations
Jump Backs Library
and Tool Kits
Photoshop Galleries
Virtual Sets
And More...
We also Have The Full Music Libraries of
Flying Hands
Back Traxx Music Library 1 & 2
Elite Music Library
Sound Effects Library
Studio and Control Room
RGB Recording on Mini DV
Y/C Recording on SVHS
3 JVC KY-19 Camera's
Panasonic Digital Switcher
Compix Character Generator
Times Square Lighting Board
Mackie Audio Board
Multiple styles of Lights
Colored Pattern Lighting
Chroma key Wall
80% White Wall
Black Curtain
Sets and Furniture
Low Lighting Angle