The capture of audio is important for two main reasons: 

• Documentors and other staff use audio records as a reference for final products such as web journals, paper journals, and videos. 
• Participants and staff can stay on top of what is going on through-out the space when an event is taking place. Through the capture system, a public address system can make it possible for all the participants in the main radiant room to hear the most soft-spoken presenter. It is also possible to play a specific audio signal along with video to a channel on monitors throughout the environment.

Music in an environment is very important. The music system designed into the ideal Athenaeum International environment has a centralized set if equipment such as amps, speaker selectors, and volume control. The human interface to the system, the CD player can be placed in a few locations around the space depending on where the action is going on. The preference of music system in the future is a computer-based system running MP3 music digital format. MP3 is the easiest way to get music that is needed quickly. Most songs and titles are now available in MP3. The songs can be downloaded with a fee paid for per song. They can be stored on an audio server and can be played from a wireless laptop in the space. Songs can be queued and played at the same time as well as preview. 

In addition to simply selecting and playing music, the system must also assure that there is a method to control the volume in certain areas of the space. Volume controls can be added to allow each speaker pair to be controlled separately of the others. This allows fine tuned volume control. 
 
 

A successful video capture and playback system is designed and built to handle constant change and reconfiguration. There are thousands of good video capture products on the market, so it is not hard to find what you need to do a specific task. The complex part of this process is putting it all together in one smoothly running package that can handle all the needs and demands of a collaborative environment. 

The most complex piece of equipment, the audio/video switch, is what gives the system the most versatility. The switch can handle many different audio and video signals at once. It also allows for many different configurations giving the system appearance of life. For example, a few cameras in one area can create signals going to multiple places such as TVís, recording decks, computer screens for live viewing while working, and remote locations via video conferencing equipment. This is only one example. There are almost endless combinations. 
Something that brings grace and beauty to electronic images is a plasma monitor. These monitors are the giant brother of a very high quality laptop LCD monitor. The bigest differences are the size, (they start at 25", and go to 52"), and they use plasma instead of liquid crystal. These monitors are perfect for just about any electronic image--cable TV, computer-generated images, and something that could be played from a tape. Since they are only about four inches thick, these monitors can easily be hung from a wall, mounted on a piece of furniture, or even hidden in side of a very shallow space. 

There are many other small details involved in a complex video capture system. Many of them are unseen and untouched and most users donít know about them. The most important things are the interface equipment. The cameras, monitors, recording decks, mixers and the controller system are all the items that operators use. The controller system is the heart and brains of the system. It combines all this mass of equipment in to on easy-to-use graphic interface. With a good controller system design, a single operator can control almost every piece of audio/video equipment. It will control everything from a complex task like changing the switcher configuration to something as easy as the volume on a TV. With this type of system, staff members do not need to be A/V experts. This allows almost any user to be operating the system in a matter of minutes. 

Video Playback. A piece of the system that is very helpful to staff and participants is the playback system. We have designed and installed the system we recommend in many environments. It allows people throughout the environment to view what is going on in real time. There are multiple channels, each carrying a different signal. The playback system can be used for staff members in another room to stay on top of what is going on. At the same time, it  can be used for participants in a large group to see small writing at the front of the room and to see the faces of people sitting in front of them. It can also be use for presenter feedback in real time or for critique later. 

Video Conferencing. This is an important part of the design allowing global flexibility. With a high-end large bandwidth system, you can expand the walls of your work environment to anywhere on, or for that matter off, the planet. This capability is most helpful when trying to bring a select few participants together that cannot travel half way around the planet in a short amount of time. In the long run, a video conferencing capability can generate huge savings on travel expenses and still bring people together. Through video conferencing, people can stay in their home work environment and be active participants in an event taking place thousands of miles away. 
 
 
 

The video editing system brings the capture and playback system full circle. It allows participants and staff to take an excellent quality video product back to co-workers that were unable to attend the event and to keep the spirit of the event alive. With a good video product, the event is synthesized in to 30 to 45 minutes giving others that werenít there, a chance to be a part of what happened. It also can be use as an excellent sales tool. The system we are recommending is capable of broadcast-quality output and, most importantly, it can be done almost real time. Because of recent advances in digital video technology, users of these new technologies have a shippable product only hours after participants leave the environment.