Girvetz Hall 1004

Girvetz Hall 1004 is a multipurpose classroom auditorium at UC Santa Barbara.  Originally built in the 1960’s, it was renovated in 1991 to make it a full multimedia presentation center.  After a complete demolition to the building walls, the new facility was constructed to have all the following features:

Computer and digital video display The new facility had the ability to display up to SVGA data from a computer, with connections for either a laptop at the podium, or a separate computer workstation.  VCR and Laser Disc players were available in the control room.  The display also was tied into the campus video distribution system, allow both source and display of high resolution baseband video to and from the entire campus within the auditorium.

Crestron Control System All display and house lighting systems were controllable via a Crestron control system, with an LCD controller mounted permanently in the podium, and a portable controller in the control room.  The slide projectors and sound system were also controllable via the system.

Dual slide projectors Dual in-line slide projectors, with access available both from the control room and the auditorium, were controlled via the Crestron system.

Movie projector A small professional movie projector was available in the control/projection room.

Professional sound control and reinforcement A Mackie mixer board controlled sound both to a 300 Watt Yamaha amplifier and speaker system, as well as the ceiling panel 70 Volt speaker system

Theatrical lighting This facility was also the home to the American Shakespear Company, so a small theatrical lighting system consisting of a professional DMX  lighting control board and a set of PAR based lighting fixtures were installed.

Duties
Project Management All Audio/video equipment designs and installations were supervised by me and coordinated with the architect, contractor, and campus A/V installation staff.  
System Design  Preliminary design specifications were finalized and complete design documents were prepared for the entire A/V system
Purchasing Aggressive equipment specification and purchase negotiations allowed taking a previously estimated $185K equipment budget, and getting it below the actual $100K available for the project.  It also allowed the inclusion of several features, such as the theatrical lighting system, that had been removed due to budget constraints
Installation Supervision  Supervised the installation of all equipment, including scheduling and turn up testing
Control System Programming  The Crestron control system was both designed and programmed, including the LCD controllers in both the podium and control room.

Design Improvements
The original design specification was for a basic, manually controlled auditorium, with limited computer and networking capabilities.  When I entered the project, there was one simple requirement - maintain the $100K equipment budget.  Beyond that, there were no limits.
The first additions were the computer video display and Crestron control systems to automate them.  Next, upgrades to the podiums, speakers, and sound system became possible due to aggressive price negotiations.  Finally, the re-addition of the theatrical lighting system, including dimmer pack, control board and PAR fixtures, made the facility a complete theatre.