Published: August 19, 2009 11:49 pm      

Video editing equipment will bring university up to speed

FROSTBURG — Frostburg State University’s department of mass communications is coming more fully into the 21st century, thanks to a $50,000 grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission.

The funds — to be matched by $50,000 from FSU — will help purchase the type of non-linear video editing equipment being used by professionals in the field, said John Lombardi, department chair.

Non-linear video editing equipment is to linear video editing equipment what the word processor is to the typewriter.

“A non-linear system allows you to do so much more than just take one shot and put it next to another shot and another shot,” said Lombardi, adding that in the video production field, linear editing is becoming obsolete.

At FSU, linear video editing equipment is being phased out as funds become available for more current technologies.

“If a student were still being taught how to edit with linear equipment, then got a job that uses non-linear equipment, it would be a considerable challenge for them to catch up,” Lombardi said. “The skills that you learn in one don’t translate very smoothly to the other.”

The grant, announced Tuesday, will allow FSU to purchase a video server to store all video, audio and graphics files in a central location, and create 11 work stations that are fully integrated. The new configuration could be ready for students as early as this spring, Lombardi said.

With about 170 majors — 20 to 30 graduates per year — the department offers a variety of focus areas, including film studies, public relations and video production, with video production being “far and away the most popular,” Lombardi said.

Though jobs aren’t plentiful now, the field is expected to grow in the years ahead.

“The proliferation of Web sites in general is making video work more prominent,” Lombardi said. “There are producers out there producing videos for just mobile devices, or just Web sites.”

Sen. Benjamin Cardin, who issued a joint press release with Sen. Barbara Mikulski to announce the grant, said it will “keep Maryland’s students on the cutting edge of technology, expanding their skills and increasing their attractiveness to employers.”

The community should benefit from the grant, as well, with improvements of quality and quantity at the student-staffed FSU-TV3.

Contact Kristin Harty at kharty@times-news.com.