FGCU has updated the Media Production Studio, changing it from one combined room to two separate studios. These rooms are located on the first floor of FGCU Library East in rooms 142 and 144.

This change was made over the 2023 Spring semester and the studios have been open all summer. The update to these resources has been in the discussion for over five years according to Anna Carlin, the Instructional Tech Librarian. 

“We’ve been talking about moving into separate spaces, new spaces so that we could separate the video and audio for a long time,” Carlin said. “The library dean came up with this whole library master plan that has a lot of things kind of moving and shifting around over the next few years, depending on funding and all that stuff. The studios were part of that master plan.”

Between the Audio and Visual Production Studios, most of the equipment that was moved to these rooms came from the previous studio. The rooms contain professional quality recording equipment. The audio studio has condenser microphones, audio mixing and a recording station. The visual studio has an HD broadcast camera, mirrorless DSLR camera, LED lighting, a green screen, backdrops, four microphone mixers, a teleprompter rig and a video capture and editing station.

With all of these changes, the old Media Production Studio room is now the home of the library’s MakerSpace. It includes 3D Printers, laser cutters and a milling machine. 

Improvements for the new studios are in motion. The Video Production Studio is getting equipment off the floor and put away more neatly. The library is looking for ways to simplify this space for students who are newer to these fields so they can get right to recording. There are hopes for the audio room to have more of a living room feel. They are hoping to add a couch and a coffee table to give a professional podcasting atmosphere.

“My team and I love that we now have a dedicated room for both audio and video, respectively. The only problem we’ve encountered has to do with the lack of curtains/blinds. Without them, recording becomes very distracting especially when there are people looking inside while on tours and such. And since we have a bigger room to record in, that makes it harder to insulate,” said Jared Gonzalez, a graduate student at FGCU and regular user of the audio room.

The previous Media Production Studio had private windows that would give them the concealment they needed. After moving to the new rooms, students are requesting window coverings for more privacy while recording.

Upper management wants the rooms to be visible from the outside, influencing more students to use them. This creates an issue with not only sound bouncing off the walls, but makes editing and recording more difficult. Currently, students are contacting Carlin to request the reinstallation of curtains and as a temporary solution, whiteboards have been placed around the walls on the inside of the room.

These rooms are available for all students. Students can access these rooms by reserving them through the library website. https://library.fgcu.edu/mediaprod/reserve