After a break of several years due to technical limitations, the first and second year students of the Multimedia program were once again able to visit the public institution RTV Slovenia. Under the guidance of Jože Škerjanc (RTV SLO) and his assistant Klemen Pečnik (LMMFE), the students were able to learn about the technical and content part of radio and television production in our largest media company.
After a short motivational introduction and a brief insight into the history and development of RTV SLO in the foyer of the radio department, the first part of the tour of the radio studios followed. In the control rooms of VAL 202, the students watched the presentation of the creation of the daily program and the preparation of the news. The editors and journalists presented the content part of the creation of the daily program, while the sound engineer presented the technical part, including field connections, control and management of all sources and the DALET broadcast system. This was followed by a tour of Music Studio 26, where the RTV SLO Symphony Orchestra and – until Studio 14 is renovated – the RTV SLO Big Band play. Of course, the focus was on the architecture, the acoustic treatment, the technical characteristics of the room, the equipment, and the way of working.
The tour continued with a walk through the collection of the RTV Museum, located in the underground corridor between the radio and television sections of the building. Through the exhibits on display and their interesting explanations and chronology, the students also learned about the evolution of technology and technological advancements in the field of RTV. In addition to the exhibits on display, the museum also houses portraits of radio and television personalities who have had a significant impact on the history of RTV.
The tour of RTV’s television program began with a visit to the dubbing studio, where cartoons, animations and documentaries are dubbed. In these rooms, the original voices or speeches are recorded, edited and or replaced with appropriate sound recordings in Slovenian. The tour then led to all four television studios on the ground floor, the stage workshop, the props workshop, the warehouse and the lighting workshop. On the tour, various professional production equipment was presented: Cameras, microphones, lighting, set design, projection video wall, LED video wall, virtual (virtual) studio, auxiliary systems and server rooms for all studios. The tour of the studios ended with a tour of the control rooms, where, in addition to the technology itself, the roles of the staff, their tasks and the way they communicate and collaborate with each other were presented. The presentation of the technology was rounded off by a presentation and tour of the HD2 reporting vehicle, which was parked in the yard of RTV SLO during the tour.
The last part of the tour was dedicated to the presentation and visit of the multimedia center RTV SLO and the broadcasting and connection unit. In addition to the journalistic work of the team that takes care of the content, the Multimedia Center also employs several technicians who work on new dissemination approaches and technical solutions necessary for the operation of the portal and the services of RTV 365. The operation of RTV SLO depends on the incoming signals, the visibility of the programs and the outgoing signals, for which the Department of Transmitters and Communications is responsible. Bojan Ramšak presented the “paths” through which the signals reach RTV, to the students, including IP networks, direct optical networks for point-to-point connections, microwave links, satellite links and cable links. Finally, they looked at all the ways content is distributed to end users and the various distribution networks in use today.
The visit was interesting and informative for the students and allowed them to learn firsthand about the work and technology of radio and television. Experts from the different segments and areas shared their knowledge and experience with them and also discussed the challenges and further career opportunities, possibly even at RTV Slovenia, that our students will have in the field of multimedia.
