Pasadena Unified School District Builds Student-Operated Flypack to Power Community Engagement
Through its media arm, KLRN Pasadena, the district creates content to engage its wider community. With a strong vision for both outreach and education, the district sought to amplify its storytelling by producing more, better quality live content for their community and providing students with hands-on experience in contemporary media production.
Despite having no shortage of engaging events — school concerts, football games, board meetings, and community showcases — PUSD couldn’t share these moments much beyond the campus gates.
For years, the district had relied on a mix of aging, stitched-together gear to cover events. They had experimented with several versions of a mobile flypack, but had nothing that delivered true reliability or broadcast-level quality.
Limited internet access at some locations, inconsistent setup workflows, and a lack of formal training tools made it hard to build a sustainable pipeline of content. And educators struggled to provide a learning experience that accurately reflected today’s live production environments.
The district needed a scalable solution that could travel easily, adapt to the technology available at the various other schools, deliver professional, reliable results, and be intuitive enough to serve as a real learning platform for student crews with limited experience.
A Mobile, Broadcast-Ready Flypack Designed for Education
PUSD partnered with systems integrator and trusted Ross Video partner, Key Code Media, to build a broadcast-quality, student-friendly, mobile multi-cam flypack from the ground up.
The system, built into a rugged, mobile BigFoot chassis, was engineered to deliver professional live broadcasts while also serving as a training ground for students in journalism, communication, and live event production.
At the center of the new flypack are Ross Video’s Carbonite switcher and TouchDrive, giving students an easy and reliable way to direct shows, switch cameras, and adjust audio from the same control surface. The team also uses XPression, Ross Video’s real-time motion graphics system, which connects to spreadsheets, scoreboards, and live data, allowing students to easily create live overlays, stats, and lower-thirds graphics for their broadcasts.
The system also includes Panasonic cameras with Canon lenses, LiveU bonded cellular for streaming anywhere, Teradek wireless video, RTS intercoms, and an Allen & Heath mixer — each selected for their flexibility, portability, and operability for student crews. With this setup, the flypack can support live switching, graphics, audio mixing, and real-time streaming, even from venues without a traditional internet connection.
“I needed the heart of my flypack to be something that was easy to operate under stress. The Ross switcher was exactly what I needed. The layout is perfect for me as a TD when I’m also directing and not able to look at the buttons on the switcher — because I can feel my way around it. I know exactly what I’m doing.”
Beth Leyden – Director of Telecommunications, Pasadena Unified – KLRN
Everything You Need to Connect With Your Audience Every day, Ross powers live productions for billions of viewers. With the industry’s widest range of high-impact, high-efficiency solutions and services, Ross helps all manner of organizations create and share compelling content, from leading broadcasters to houses of worship, stadiums, corporations, education and governments. With approximately 1300 team members around the world and manufacturing facilities in Ontario and Austria and the most reliable service in the industry, we are here to turn your ideas, plans and strategies into reality.
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