-By Bill Mead, Digital Cinema Editor

Quietly, at the USA headquarters of Barco’s Media and Entertainment Division in Rancho Cordova, CA, Barco’s digital-cinema training instructors are building expertise and confidence with the technical-support teams from exhibitors and system integrators across the Americas. In what is likely to be the cinema industry’s most comprehensive service-training program, technicians and engineers are learning everything they need to know about servicing and supporting Barco’s projectors and their integration into full digital booth systems.

Chris Gregg, Barco’s digital-cinema trainer responsible for leading the courses, had developed a curriculum of first-class materials, such as quick-start guides, maintenance procedures, and right-to-the-point operating instructions. Gregg, who works full-time on customer-support training, took on the project in 2007 after seeing a need to bridge the gap between the factory-supplied materials and the real-world needs of field engineers. Since then, Gregg’s materials have been adopted by Barco worldwide and are used as a basis for similar training programs in Europe and Asia. To date, approximately 300 field engineers and technicians have been certified by the Barco programs.

Gregg reports that quite a few film engineers have been won over to Barco’s product lineup after attending the installation course. “We’ve seen some cinema service engineers arrive with a somewhat skeptical attitude about Barco products or even digital cinema in general, but they have done a full turnaround after completing the course. We believe our training programs are essential in building ground-level support for our products. A well-trained and confident field engineer is really our best salesman,” Gregg asserts.

The training courses have also proven to be a two-way street in that they provide Barco with valuable feedback about any issues or potential problems that might need to be addressed at the factory level. On occasion, field engineers have suggested changes or solutions that have been adopted by Barco and incorporated into future designs or maintenance procedures.

Barco’s certification training is provided on two levels. Level One covers the basics of installation and Level Two covers diagnostics, repair and advanced service. Each course runs four days typically from Tuesday to Friday, with courses scheduled virtually every week. Courses are scheduled throughout the year and are typically booked well in advance.

The Level One Installation and Basic Maintenance course is open to all, with only a modest fee charged to cover course materials and operating expenses. Attendees are typically field technicians, service engineers, or technical managers from the exhibition chains or their system integrators. The only prerequisite for Level One is an interest to learn more about digital projection and, ideally, basic knowledge of cinema systems and the ability to use a PC laptop with Windows.

The Level One training emphasizes the task of getting the projector from the shipping container and quickly up and running to Barco and industry standards. The certification class is limited to a maximum of eight students at a time so each will receive the maximum amount of personal attention from the instructor and plenty of hands-on guidance. The class agenda assumes that the attendees are reasonably well-versed in the basics and so begins with only a brief overview of general digital-cinema background. Attendees receive an introduction to Barco’s product lineup and jump right into the projector selection and installation. Covered are all setup and software configuration issues, such as specifying Xenon lamps and selecting the right lens configuration for the auditorium and screen. Beyond basic installation, the Level One class covers scheduled maintenance, firmware upgrades and basic troubleshooting. While the focus is primarily on Barco’s projectors, the course also covers integration with the server, theatre management system, and other related booth equipment.

Upon completion, each attendee is tested on what they have learned and will need to demonstrate their skills by performing several dry-run installations in a special area of the Barco facility. Upon successful completion, the attendee receives a certificate of completion, and their name is added to Barco’s database of qualified installers. The certified installers are also provided with access to additional online support resources.

For field engineers who need to know more, the Level One course is just the starting point. After each attendee has successfully completed at least three installations, they are eligible to return to the Barco training facility for another four days to take the Level Two Advanced Diagnostics and Service certification course. Level Two gets into the details of advanced troubleshooting and system repair, including module replacement, cooling-system maintenance, light engine repair, optical alignment, 3D wheel installation and advanced firmware updates.

To allow time for plenty of instructor-assisted hands-on training, Level Two classes are limited to only six students at a time. Upon completion, each student must demonstrate their abilities not only by passing a written examination, but by showing that they are able to quickly and successfully diagnose and repair at least four projectors that have been artificially seeded with faults. The Level Two graduate leaves the course with all the knowledge he or she needs to resolve virtually any problem that might come up in the booth. All Barco digital-cinema resellers are required to have at least one Level Two certified engineer on their staff.

Erik Iversen, training manager for Barco’s Media and Entertainment and Simulation group, says that their digital-cinema training effort is the result of several years of development and listening. “We approach our training program from the field engineer’s point of view. Not only have our own engineers provided feedback, but we asked the customers what they wanted to know and what they encountered on a regular basis. We have created a program that answers their questions and a few of our own, without overcomplicating the course design.”

Since launching the certification programs, Barco has constructed a solid pyramid of technical support, starting with a foundation of Level One-certified installers, backed up by knowledgeable Level Two-certified field engineers, who are in turn backed up by the Barco in-house customer-support team. This support infrastructure, which is growing by six engineers a week, is an investment in Barco’s future digital-cinema business, and is winning over exhibitors and digital-cinema stakeholders worldwide.